Strawberry
by Lore55
Summary: They threw tomatoes at my face so it would match my hair. Personally I thought it was more like a strawberry. SI/reincarnation. Uzumaki twins.
1. Chapter 1

**New story. Again.**

**I own nothing. **

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><p>The sun mocks us. It almost always shines, cheerful and never fading. The only glares that it receives are from the seldom and few here, from those that hold lighter complexion.<p>

The sun is not the only thing that mocks us. There are children too, adults, even select animals will jeer and taunt.

I truly, honestly hate this place.

I didn't before. I didn't when I was blissfully unaware of what things should have been like. Before what I have chosen to call The Awakening. My Awakening.

There had been a total of four years without true incident, my growing up with my dear little brother in the two bedroom apartment. I had no idea anything was wrong or strange, I was a child, a real one then. I didn't know that normal people didn't grow up with various masked men looking in on their cribs or receiving pre-made food in baskets on the doorstep. For me, back then, it was the most normal thing in the world.

It was those masked faces that were my upbringing. Walking, to a lesser extent talking, came in their own time and eventually reading joined the fray with the help of one masked man, who seemed fonder of us than some others. He was the one who was there when my bliss was destroyed.

It was really something that shouldn't have happened, something that could have easily been prevented. If ninja knew shit about child care. Mainly the part of child care that involved no pointy edges or being left alone. Ever.

Someone had had the foolish idea to let me sit on top of the counter while lunch was being made, whether it was the Bear or the Dog I don't particularly recall. I just know that the Dog was the one who was in the living room with my brother, playing what amounted to patty-cake, just without the words.

My legs had been swinging and I had been chatting up half a storm with Bear when Dog had called him into the other room for what I still do not know. He had left, leaving me with instructions to keep the soup stirring. I did so, watching the broth form a whirlpool as noodles swept around, poking out and bobbing. Then I heard my brother start to cry and I leapt from the counter without a second though.

Alas I was four, and so my coordination was nonexistent and my head was just high enough to make sharp contact with the corner of the table. It hit me right in the temple, and that was end of my childhood.


	2. Chapter 2

I didn't know what had happened for certain, I've done a lot of research and come up with a lot of theories, none of which would be confirmed or denied for many, many years.

When the corner of that table struck my skull it cracked open a can of memories that should have been long gone, that should have never existed.

And it _hurt_.

Worse than any migraine, worse than any hot steel pushing into the skull, more than an explosion from the pons. I wanted to scream but as the world burned to white and to color my voice disappeared and my senses vanished behind the unbound agony of remembering.

Time, space, none of that existed or was processed. I didn't know where I was, what I was doing, what was happening. All I knew was that I wanted to end.

Then suddenly it did. I regained only one of my senses at first, sight. As the pain was snapped away it left me blessedly blank, like sensory deprivation. Then it was like my eyes, or what I assume my eyes would have been, opened. All around my twisted and swirled clips, pictures, videos, whirling around in the vast expanse of white nothingness and taking up space until the nothing was something.

I couldn't make out what all of them were, but I saw myself, saw my new self, my brother. My sister, or who had been my sister.

My death.

It wasn't pretty, or fast, or heroic.

It was cancer.

A mixture of bad genes and too much time in the sun had led to Melanoma, and it went downhill from there. It had been wrong from the beginning, skipping over the nodes completely and taking hold before doctors even thought to look for what was causing the strange patches on my skin and the constant fatigue. By the time they found it it was already too late.

Treatments were tried but all failed, my hair was lost, then my vision, replaced by hallucinations. Eventually I couldn't take it anymore. A bottle of whiskey washed down unidentifiable pills and it was over.

The video that skimmed over of my end cut short and I was left standing, or felt like I was standing, in the middle of a vortex. Faster than I could process they flew, blurs in a whirlwind around me, dizzying and impossible in speed and existence.

None of it made sense. That girl that had died was me but it wasn't, I knew it was me, I recognized myself, but I was too young for that to be me, my hair wasn't that color, those weren't my eyes. But they were.

If I had a head, as I am yet unsure if I was aware of a physical body of that time yet, these thoughts would have surly made it hurt.

As it was I had come to hold a detached sense of reality, pulling me away from the confusion and allowing analysis. I knew that that was me, but I also knew that I was not that person. Could it have been that I was not that person _any longer?_ That at one point I was that person but now I wasn't? If so, how was it possible?

As if summoned by my thoughts another clip jumped from the fray and in front of my, playing out. This time my sense of sound returned.

_There was a man in the front of the room with hair only on his chin, a marker swiping across the board on the wall and spelling out quick, sharp letters. A name was spelled out. Voltaire. _

_"__Voltaire," the man spoke, hand still working, "Was a French writer and philosopher in the Age of Enlightenment. You might know some of his work, chances are you don't. We'll be reading some of it in class this week, but for today get out your notebooks and a pencil for notes." _

_There was shuffling around them and the view tilted down, passing a singular desk with a chair attached and moving to show a pair of hands open up a back patterned with flowers. A key chain jingled at being jostled, a smiling strawberry charm hanging from it. The spiral notebook of paper was pulled out, LIT. marking the green cover in thick, looping letters and a pencil was brought into light as well. As the perspective turned walls lined with posters were revealed, most of them holding bulky men in uniforms. _

_The board and the bald men came back into view with more writing now. _

_"__Voltaire believed in and wrote in favor of civil liberties, freedom of trade and freedom of religion. Keep in mind this was during the time that the Catholic Church was basically in charge of all of Europe. He wrote thousands of books, plays, poems, pamphlets, essays and letters in his life, attracting a lot of negative attention and controversy. Unlike Newton and Locke he didn't bring in any groundbreaking theories, but instead helped to spread those theories to the general public. _

_The major ones were Political, Social, and Religious reforms. _

_As far as religion goes Voltaire was very outspoken when it came to keeping the church and the state separate. He himself believed in a religious perspective called Deism, not so common anymore but gaining popularity during the Enlightenment period, especially in France, England and Germany. Deism is, to put it simply, the belief in a singular creator of everything, usually God, and the rejection of supposed miracles and supernatural events. He also believed in reincarnation," the man turned to the room and the view shifted to reveal the back and sides of the heads of dozens of teenagers in brightly colored clothes and dull colored hair. _

_"__Who knows what Reincarnation is?" _

_There was silent for several moments before a hand went up slowly from a dark skinned boy five seats to the right and two back. _

_"__Jackson?" _

_'__Jackson' began to speak uncertainly. "It's like, when you die you don't die forever? Kind of, uh, you go back to being a baby?" _

_The bald man nodded. "That's about right. Reincarnation is the belief that when one life ends, another begins. If you die in a car accident you'll wake up as an infant. Your soul, if you believe in that thing, leaves your old body and is put in a brand new one. Make sense?" _

_There was a quiet murmur through the room and the bald man turned back to the board. _

Reincarnation.

That had to be it, I decided as the clip faded away, leaving me in the tornado again, silence returned. So I had once been someone else. And the fall had forced me to remember. I did remember too, the knowledge was creeping into the crevices of grey matter even as I watched in wonder as the specific memories past me by, too quick to catch.

I remembered the basics. Name, age, birthday, family, friends, language and home. Everything else, I knew, I would have to relive. I would have to pull the memories and the knowledge from the vortex.

So I did.

Memory after memory, truth after truth, scene after scene I watched that life play before my eyes. Minutes, hours, days I spent reliving parts of the life I had lost.

I stayed far away from the last five years.

Then something else caught my attention. A word at the end of a memory of my sister. The name of my brother.

_Naruto. _

Scenes jumped suddenly, many of them, slamming into me from all sides and darting back into the multicolored hurricane, like they were trying to get me to follow them or choose which one to see first. My hand reached out, revealing to me then that I did have a form, long limbed and partially transparent as it was, and brushed the corner of a square of memory.

_Inside a small screen were two boys and a girl, accompanied by a man. They were walking along a path in relative silence, the scene flitting around them. They were in a TV. _

_The boy on the furthest left side from the front had straight dark hair, pale skin and a close-eyed smile on his face. There was a sword strapped over one shoulder, his black shirt cut to expose his stomach and his pants and matching shade. _

_In the middle was a blond, a frown on his whisker marked face, his eyes also closed and his hands in the pocket of his orange and black jacket, matching his pants. _

_The only girl was dressed differently, watching the boys as they walked. Short pink hair, bright green eyes and light skin. Her shirt was red, her skirt not really a skirt with shorts under it and a large pack strapped to her middle. _

_The last was a man with brown hair, black eyes and a face plate, a green vest on over a blue shirt and blue pants. _

The memory was short and vanished but I knew that face, even older and two dimensional. That had been my brother.

Cold fingers gripped my heart and I looked around at the world around me. My brother was in my memories, but not as he should have been. I was struck by fear. I needed to get out of there, to return to the real world, but I didn't know how. I didn't even understand how I'd gotten there to begin with.

Terror held its claws around my throat and I choked, frightened and confused. I reach out and another memory snapped into place.

_Naruto and a boy with dark hair, spiky instead of straight, were there, younger than before. Naruto was in the air and light enveloped the other boys hand, the one not holding the blond up by his neck. A dark smile passed the other boys lips, strange tattoos creeping across his face. His hand shot forwards, straight through the orange clad boys chest. Blood fell into the water below. _

The memory ended. Tears had begun to prick in my eyes, which by then had truly revealed themselves to exist. I was physically there, or a physical manifestation of me was. A scared, panicking one. I thought Naruto had died, but of course that couldn't be the case. He had been older in the other clip. So he must have survived. With shaking hand I reached out again.

_A swing._

Another.

_A forest, a giant snake, the same dark haired boy begging for life. _

Another.

_Giant frogs. _

Another.

_Orange hair, dark piercings, Naruto on his stomach with long bars of metal pinning him down. _

I was almost crying as I found another.

_Wide open spaces of light, bright colors. A woman with long red hair, a white shirt and a green apron that went almost to her ankles. She was hugging the older Naruto, a warm smile on her face. She was his mother. _

More and more passed by, some interrupted, some not. I did start crying before long. I kept going, watching my brothers life pass in front of me, scenes playing at complete random in confusing schemes and no distinct pattern.

I couldn't stand it anymore, everything was too much. I screamed for it all to stop already.

Shockingly enough, it did. The vortex froze, the images inside did too. I could see them clearly now, like photographs creating an igloo around my and shielding the outside world. Stunned by the obedience I could only stare for a long time before I spoke again. "Naruto," I called quietly. From the walls floated down hundreds of the little rectangles, no longer screaming through the air but floating to stack on top of themselves.

Curious I spoke again. "Oldest?" I asked, watching them start to rearrange themselves in the air in front of me into a straight line in chronological order. I took a deep breath, steeled myself, and dove back into things. They weren't in complete order, as I had apparently not watched all of the show in direct order. It started with a red head, in fact, one I would not meet again for years. It ended in black and white and apparent anger. It wasn't just videos either. It was also pictures in books or on the screen of a computer, sometimes it was lists and walls of text.

There was one thing I realized watching everything. One horrible, horrible thing.

I wasn't there. I wasn't supposed to exist.

It hurt and it was confusing. That made me cry more than anything else had that entire time. My heart hurt and I couldn't understand why I wasn't there. I let out a shaky breath, lowering my head and willing the memories back into their places as I had learned to do.

"I want to go back," I whispered quietly.

And the world dropped out from under me.


	3. Chapter 3

When my eyes opened I was blind. Temporarily, thankfully, as I doubted the second experience of it would be any less terrible than the first time around. It was the lights that stole my sight, and when the glare of them faded away I was allowed to see again, colorful spots dotting my vision.

The all too familiar ceilings of a hospital met my vision and I felt my stomach turn. I was no longer a child. My memories were filling in steadily, which did nothing to stop the head ache that was forming.

I wasn't oblivious or confused anymore.

I was awake now. And I knew what I was going to do. I wasn't supposed to exist, yet here I was, alive, breathing, with a brother that was going to need somebody by his side. I would stick by him no matter what, I decided then and there. And I would do whatever I could to throw a wrench in the plans of those that would use him for their own gain.

_The Prince is awake, your shit is wrecked. _

I was Awake and Alive.

And I was going to rain hell down upon this world.

Just as soon as I got my brother to get his head off of my arm.

I had to smile when I looked down and saw him sleeping peacefully, resting in the edge of the far too-big bed I had been placed in. I reached out, placing my hand on top of his head and petting his head. Blue eyes blinked open blearily before they found my and I smiled at him, watching those eyes I had spent years looking at from a new life.

This was my brother, and I would do whatever it took to protect him.


	4. Chapter 4

I said I would rain hell, but that is notoriously difficult when you happen to be four years old, going on five. I had little power, a limited amount of knowledge and, before long, people out for my head.

It was only after I came out of a _week long_ _coma_ that we were finally allowed to go outside, without our ANBU care takers. It was horrible, and I would have been just as happy staying inside. Of course, I knew what awaited us outside the safety of our apartment walls.

Naruto couldn't have been more excited, nearly shaking with it as he pulled on his shoes in front of the watchful eye of our new nanny, Hawk. Hawk was one of the ones with weird hair, spiking green on top of his head. He was nice enough, more professional than Bear or Dog had been.

It was sad that they weren't around anymore. They had been my favorites.

My brother had stood at the doorway while I self-consciously pulled my fingers through the thick red hair, eyes on the door. I wasn't sure I wanted to go out. I knew I had to, and had done my best to prepare for it, mentally, emotionally, and physically. Naruto looked almost like a ghost under the amount of sunscreen I demanded he wear.

"Let's go," he whined, tugging my hand towards the door and using his most dangerous weapon on me. The puppy dog eyes.

I sighed deeply.

"Alright little brother, let's go."

The door opened and we went out.

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><p>I was expecting worse that first day.<p>

The second was about the same. No one seemed to pay us much mind, as if we were just regular kids out to run amok.

The third day was the day things changed. We were met with glares, denied entrance to stores and had children turned or pulled away from us before we could so much as say hello. Someone must have said something, must have spread the truth around that Naruto was a jinchuriki. And that I was too.

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><p><em>The memories I unlocked were not only from my past self, but also from my current one. I had searched for the memory I had lost with age, finding it when I next went to the room in my mind, focusing on the exact spot on my forehead as I lay in bed. It let me back into the frightening world and this time I was more ready to face the challenge, no longer four but decades older. <em>

_I commanded the memories into lines and folders, putting everything into the order it should have been in. _

_It looked a little bit like Fantasia, just without the troublesome broom._

_I wanted to see if I could remember my version of the kyuubi attack. I did, but it was mostly a jumble of confusing sounds that I really, really did not like. _

_Unfortunately, or perhaps for the best, infants cannot see, so it was all noise and chaos, angry shouts and infant wails and explosions. Screams far off in the background and a sickening crunch towards the end of it. I could only guess what that was. There were words though, words that rang clear as bells and brought my eyes to water again. _

"Have a little faith," a man said, his voice thick and bubbling, "They are our children after all!" he sounded confident, self-assured. His words would be true.

Then came the woman's voice. "Don't look so sad… Minato. I'm… I'm happy. Happy that you loved me. Happy that it's… our children's… birthday. Like… If I try to imagine surviving and the four of us… living together… I can't think of anything… beyond 'I'd be so happy.' If I had any regrets… It would be that I won't see them grow up."

Her voice ended in a choke and something shifted nearby in the darkness, a wail rising, and then another, two children.

"Naruto…Rin… you're going to experience a lot of pain and suffering. Remember who you are! Find a goal… a dream… and don't stop trying until it comes true. There's… there's so much more that I want to say… to teach you… I want to stay with you… I love you!"

"Rin…Naruto… listen to your motor-mouth mother."

The words cut off and for a long time there was silence before new voices filled the air alongside the continuous wail of the infants.

"Lord Hokage, these children…"

The voice of Sarutobi broke in. "They are the new jinchuriki."

"How is that possible?" the other person questioned.

"The seals… The demon was split. The girl has the yang and the boy the yin."

"What do we do with them?"

"I will take care of them. Their status must be kept a secret," there was a murmur of several other people, over a dozen, over two dozen, too many for a secret to be kept.

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><p>Naruto liked going out, and eventually we had to. After another year the ANBU were off babysitting duty and we were essentially on our own. The moment our names were spread through the village the baskets of food on the door step became fewer in delivery and when they were delivered the items inside were either already spoiled or so close we had to eat it right away.<p>

The only reason we didn't die of food poisoning was because of Kurama, I was positive, but because of him we also had insane metabolisms. As it was we were sick so often it was horrific before we began to grow an immunity to the bacteria that cause food poisoning. I had my suspicions that whoever was sending us our food was slipping something extra into it.

It ticked me off. We got an allowance every two weeks from the Konoha Orphans and Widows Fund, or KOWF. It gave us more than enough money to buy what we needed.

Or it would, if people didn't jack up prices in what few places we were allowed into without being hit with brooms. Even then we were only allowed to buy things that were closest to being spoilt.

Our water got shut off several times, leaving things at the point where I had to do a lot of calculating to squeeze packs of bottled water into the budget.

This left us skinny and able to eat horses whenever we were given the chance.

I was just thankful for the man at Ichiraku's. He charged us the same amount as everyone else and gave us the same sized portions, maybe a little bit more some days, and he and his daughter were the nicest anyone had been. I appreciated it more than I could say.

The children were just as terrible, taking their parents treatment as a sign that they should do the same. And worse. Children are cruel little monsters that should be shot. Those ones were at least.

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><p>I had never been self-conscious before, not in this life. I had no reason to. That changed a little over three months after my brother and I started going outside. I hated it, but we needed to take the trips to get supplies. I was buying overly soft vegetables when something cold made impact with my cheek, exploding juice all over the side of my face.<p>

The force of the impact had me tumbling to the ground, more from surprise than anything. I looked up boys much older than I was stood above me, holding fruits like baseballs.

"Now your face can match your stupid hair," One of them jeered, and another was thrown. I tried to block it with my arm. It struck, juices flying. One of the other boys came around, grabbing the long locks of my hair and yanking them harshly.

"What kind of dumb color is red anyways?" he asked, sneering at me and smashing on of the fruits into my skull. I cringed and tried to pull away, only succeeding in getting strands torn out.

"Leave me alone!" I cried, feeling tears prick my eyes as I tried to fight back. It ended up with my getting hit in the shoulder.

The words continued, mocking me and every aspect about me they could get. My hair, my eyes, my face, my parents. Or lack thereof.

I ended up in tears, running away from them as fast I could and getting my nice white shirt splattered with tomato juice.

I really, honestly, hated this place.

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><p>When I got home Naruto, who had spent the day in bed after more bad food that morning, was immediately concerned. Getting up in my face and asking quickly if I was okay, what had happened, everything a brother was supposed to ask. I assured him that I was okay, patting his head and walking past him to the bathroom.<p>

I filled the tub with Luke-warm water and threw my clothes into the hamper before sinking down into the bath and doing my best to scrub the tomato from my hair, getting the water the gross color of unshaken ketchup before I dried off and went back to my room, slipping into hand-me-down pajamas and crawling under the comforter. I closed my eyes, curling into a ball and focusing only on my breathing.

I was almost asleep when the mattress bounced a bit and the blankets were pulled up just enough to allow another form to join me, small and warm. Naruto wrapped his arms around me and I did the same with him, resisting the urge to cry again.

"Naruto?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah?" he returned, just as low.

"People are mean."

"Yeah, but they won't be forever," he tried to assure me.

I couldn't help but ask how he knew that.

"Because we're going to make them respect us, we'll be so great they'll have to love us!"

My parents last words floated through my mind.

"Hey, brother of mine?"

"What is it, sister?"

A smile graced my face. "You wanna be a ninja with me?"

His volume grew louder as he cheered a 'yes!'

I laughed and shoved him lightly, my ears ringing. "Not so loud, you dork!"

"I am not!" he objected, still too loud.

"You are so!" I countered, and promptly shoved him off the bed. He hit the ground with a thump but he was laughing and crawled back up as soon as he could. I was already there, gripping my pillow. I flung it and it smacked him the face.

"Hey!" he cried, rocking back before diving for the other pillow on the bed.

"Hay is for horses," I pretended to scold, ducking the swing he took at me.

We were a couple pillows short by the end of the fight, but I was feeling better and my brother was talking adamantly about how cool of a ninja he would be.


	5. Chapter 5

**New chapter, hope you like it. **

**Thoughts and feedback are welcome and appreciated. **

**I own nothing.**

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><p>The ninja academy was an interesting place.<p>

It wasn't only a school, as my brother and I knew well by that point in our lives. Above the school was the office of the Hokage, where he did all of his work and met with important people when he needed to. Off from that, down and away from the separate section that made up the class rooms was the Jonin Stand By Station, where the jonin would mill around, turn in their mission reports and submit requests for more. All of this was managed by Shikaku Nara.

Naruto and I knew that part of it quite well, we passed it whenever it came to our minds to bother the Hokage. We didn't tell him about how terrible things were or anything like that, neither one of us wanted to put more strain on him. He was old, and while we might beg for attention we would not put more pressure on the only adult who had our back, and risk driving him away.

Whenever Naruto was in the room his boundless energy would light it up and he would run around, causing mayhem and getting into trouble. The old man took it all in good humor, luckily, and while he did yell at him I knew he was never really mad at my brother.

I was a different case. Whenever I was in the room I would remain noticed only for a set amount of time as I walked in, story book in hand and sit on the little couch Hiruzen had pushed again a wall. There I would tuck myself away, open the book, and listen.

It was, for one reason or another, very easy for them to forget that I was there. The same would have probably been said for Naruto if he could sit still or didn't try to get people's attention.

This lead to some interesting occurrences and a much more in depth understanding of how things worked than I would have had before.

While Shikaku did sign off and read all of the reports the Hokage had to re-read and send them to be filed or sealed, all with his signature or stamp slapped onto the bottom right corner. The mission rating was made in agreement between the Kage and client, according to what the client perceived to be threatening compared to what ninja thought of as dangerous. This would affect the amount paid, with D-ranked missions being close to paying the neighbor to clip the hedges and A-rank costing enough you could buy a house off just one.

If the client lied, as some did, and the mission was bumped up in rank while still in progress then the client would have to pay for it or go into debt with the village. If they went into debt then they would pay back steadily while the village paid the shinobi involved up front.

All in all it was a pretty solid, well thought out system that had evolved from years of work, trial, error and monetary loss.

I learned more about the actual ninja too. I learned that some chose to stay genin because they felt they belonged there, even if their actual skills could have gotten them to jonin without a problem. Some people made jonin when really they should have been chunin. I learned their names, and by listening I got a gist of what they were best at.

It was all very educational.

That was the Hokage's office, which smelled of pipe smoke and held the sharp tang of chakra in the air.

Contrary to what you may have been told, being born into a world with chakra from one without did not automatically mean insane sensor abilities. I couldn't tell one person from another, I couldn't sense what someone's rank was by their chakra. I just knew what it smelled like, from some instinct deep inside. It was like how you knew the smell of paprika when you'd never smelled it before. Just the scent says 'paprika'. Or maybe I was crazier than I thought I was.

Who knows.

The Standby Station was somewhat like a lounge, filled with older ninja and the occasional protégé. There were three teams always kept on standby, rotating weekly. These teams would be four jonin and they would spend all of their time at the station, reading, chatting or any other number of things and at night they would retire to the attached rooms, Go-Bags at the ready and equipment already gathered.

Should an emergency arise outside the village those teams were the first on call, unless there was some kind of special ability or person needed for it that the Hokage wanted to send off, in which case the mission would be delayed those few minutes it took them to gather, or alternatively they would be sent as a backup squad.

Most jonin hung around there in their free time for whatever reason, probably because most ninja are either paranoid or anti-social, as my theory went.

The Academy was the largest part of the structure, and the most used. There was no limit on the number of children that could attend, and there were no restrictions to entrance. A child from a ninja clan, or even a single ninja parent, were often enrolled by their parents, where as civilian children were only sometimes enrolled by their parents. If the parents didn't do it then the children themselves could, as often happened with those living in the orphanage.

This didn't mean they would graduate.

Most people spent roughly seven years in there, learning ready, writing, math and science as well as the basics of ninja skills. Chakra usage, weaponry and very, very basic hand-to-hand combat was taught right along with it. The curriculum moved quickly too, with lots of tests and exams to take and not all of what you learned taught in class.

The pressure of this lead many children to drop out in the first four years, unless they realized that the only tests you actually need to pass to graduate are the written and practical graduation exam, which was offered to children throughout their time there. Most couldn't or wouldn't try to pass it until their fifth year at least, and still more were advised to wait until they were twelve, the common graduation age. In special circumstances, like if the person was shown to be mental or emotionally unstable, they weren't allowed to take the test until they were twelve, as if that was the magic number that would fix whatever was going on in their head.

All of this was, of course, only for Peace Time. During War Time any child that could pass the test, a rushed version of it at that, was sent through and assigned a teacher regardless of age or state of mental health.

Luckily the day my brother and I walked into that place was during the former.

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><p>We stood in front of the familiar building, on a side we normally had no interest in, side by side and hand in hand. We were not the only ones there that were not accompanied by our parents, but we were the only ones that were being completely avoided.<p>

My adoration for my brother knew no end, and when people started glaring at him, at us, I put myself in front of him, chin lifted high and eyes narrowed in challenge to any of them. My brother's hand was warm in mine and while he did not shrink behind me he didn't seem to have much of a problem staying there for a while.

I didn't mind. I just wanted him to be safe and happy this time around.

"Ready?" I asked, tilting my head to look at him.

Naruto nodded, his smile bright. "Yeah! It's gonna be so cool! We're gonna learn all of the awesome ninja stuff and be the best!" he cheered, throwing both of his hands in the air and nearly knocking me off my feet.

I laughed, spinning around his raised hand and pulling him towards the building. "Then let's go! We have to find out what class we're in."

I marched us forwards, dropping our hands to swing between us. There was one good thing about the whole 'jinchuriki' shtick, if you glared at them people got out of your way. This made getting to the list of teachers and students that much easier.

It was expected that children be able to read by the time they entered the Academy, though it was not a requirement. The only requirements listed were basically that you love your village, be willing to sacrifice for it, and be physically fit, and most of that was entirely subjective.

For instance, I loathed this place and would have left if it was possible, but I was still being admitted and expected to be a good ninja. To be a good tool.

"Where are we?" Naruto asked, looking up at the board that held class assignments. He could read just fine, but he liked it better when I did. I was better at finding information that I needed with less hassle and time than he took.

I skimmed the board briefly. "It looks like we're with… Umino Iruka," I reported.

I was very glad that I was in with my brother, I don't know what I would do if I wasn't. Probably cry or cause so much trouble that they had to switch me from one teacher to another until I eventually got what I wanted. I preferred going unnoticed, but when I tried I could figure out more ways to get under someone's skin than a tick.

The doors were shut, we would be picked up by our teacher soon but for that moment we were left on our own in the middle of the playground. There were lots of children around, but none that would look at us for long after their parents told them not to. Those that didn't have parents followed the suit of their peers.

There was one child I was relatively sure wouldn't have been given explicit orders to stay away. I let my eyes wander the grounds, catching faces, hair styles and cloths, searching. Naruto caught my look, face twisting in curiosity.

"What are you looking for?" he asked, and I caught his eye, smiling.

"I'm looking for a friend for you," I explained, swinging our hands between us.

"For me?" Naruto asked, excitement over taking him for a moment before my words fully registered. "What about you though?"

I smiled at him, shrugging. "You're my friend. I'll get some, but I know about a kid that you might like," I paused, "Well, maybe not _like_ but… I think it would be good for you to be friends with him."

"How do you know that?" Naruto asked, head tilting cutely. My smile grew and I hopped forwards, spinning him around me and with me.

"Cause I jus' do. I know lots of things, Otouto. Trust me, okay?"

Naruto nodded, his faith in me painfully absolute. It almost made me feel bad, taking advantage of his trust to twist things, but I knew what the future held, even if I wasn't supposed to be in it, and I wasn't about to let it pan out the way it had before. So when my eyes landed on a little boy with spiky hair standing next to two adults I smiled. It was time to push things in a different direction. In _my_ direction.

"Hey Naruto," I chirped, causing him too perk up. He knew my tone. My hand connected with his arm and I bolted, shouting a 'you're it!' after me and sprinting away, the little blond hot on my heels.

Just because I didn't like being the center of attention didn't mean I didn't like to play. I wasn't _that_ mature. In fact, I wasn't very mature at all.

I darted between people two slow to get out of the way, ducking and dodging swats aimed at my head and scrambling to go faster. The ninja shoes, the mini ones that most kids wore when they started training, caught the ground with magnificent traction, supporting better than anything a civilian might get, allowing me to make sharp turns and quick spins. Before, what seemed like an eternity ago, it would have been hard to do any of this, my body so weak from chemotherapy that I had to give up ballet. Now I could run as long as I wanted, this body enhanced by the demon held within it.

Being a child's body it was still uncoordinated though, and so at five I slammed head first into a little black haired boy my size, sending us both tumbling to the ground with startled cries while my brother tripped over us and flying into the legs of the woman that had accompanied my target.

"Hey!" came a shout from under me as I lay on the ground, breathing deeply. Not even on the ground. I lay on the small body of one Sasuke Uchiha, who was struggling to shove me off while his mother laughed and his father watched on, disapproval in his eyes. All this I took in as I rolled off of him, bouncing back to my heels.

"You have bad refl- reflu- reflexes," I informed him, playing at mispronunciation. I watched the little boys arms cross and he huffed.

"I do not!" he objected.

"Then how come you didn't move?" I challenged.

"Cause you moved to fast and you were too heavy to push off," he grumbled, causing me to stop moving for a second. I heard my brother breath in sharply.

My eyes narrowed sharply at him. "Did you just call me heavy?" I asked, offering him the chance to retract the statement that could not possibly be as described.

Apparently not sensing my desire to maim him the child nodded firmly.

I pounced.

He screamed.

Mikoto laughed as he tried hiding behind her, sidestepping and allowing me to get at her son before he scrambled back into my brother, who was laughing at me.

"Don't you laugh at me!" I shouted, lunging at the two in more play than ill intention. Both took off as fast as they could, running alongside each other as I had hoped. People I was good at, people I could nudge here and there with small comments and dropped hints. It was a talent I was developing further than I had before, now needing it more.

I spent a good few minutes chasing the boys before I dropped back, letting them get out of my reach. I watched, a pang in my chest as my brother laughed and ran, nearly tripping in synch with the young Uchiha boy. That was what I wanted to happen, for them to have a good first meeting.

_So why does my heart hurt watching his back? _

I swallowed past the lump in my throat and jogged to catch up with the two, Naruto smiling like the sun and Sasuke struggling to breath properly. I had barely made it to them before Iruka, looking just as I knew he would, came out of the school and called his class in.

A group of roughly thirty children followed him, myself included, and were taken to one of the rooms. There were nine desks, and twenty eight of us, so that was four to a desk and one that would have five. Naturally I took the seat beside my brother, between him and the window. Interestingly enough his other side was taken by Sasuke, and on his side was a small girl with bubble-gum colored hair.

I wasn't sure if I should be happy or annoyed that Sakura was there, knowing how she would be in a few years. Until I realized that it wasn't how she would be, but rather how she could be. If I stepped in right there instead of Ino, or alongside her, and pushed things into place and encouraged the girl to focus more on training than boys then she could be stronger than was originally thought.

In fact considering that these were the formative years of everyone I could begin the shift before I had even thought to before.

Just because I wasn't supposed to exist didn't mean I wouldn't take full advantage of the twist in fate. I had a lot of plans, and not a lot of time. So I would work and remember, figure out everything I could, and help my precious brother as much as I could.

The first day lecture began and I prepared myself for the day ahead of me, listening intently to Iruka as he started off the grand plan of brain-wash-the-five-year-olds-into-becoming-murderers.

The place was so fucked up.


	6. Chapter 6 (Filler)

**Chapter 6 is here! This one isn't part of the plot, it's all background for Rin. **

**To the reviews (As I haven't directly replied to anyone yet(Whoops!));**

**Vaeius: Yeah, that first one was pretty short, but it was just an opening chapter so…**

**Please send me messages: Thanks for reviewing!**

**Star Hart: Thank you, I'm glad you like it!**

**Where's the mayo: I thought it was a good plan to, thank you. I'm so glad you like it!**

**Thanks to everyone who took the time to review! **

**I own nothing. **

**WARNING: Bullying, Bitchiness and Suicide.**

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><p>Jerry Anderson was a quiet girl. She was plain, mousy even. She did all of her work, talked to her teachers like they were people and turned all of her homework in on time. She only had a few friends, and those weren't the closest. But they were nice, and they helped her when she needed it, not matter how plain she was. In fact the only unique thing about her was not very unique at all.<p>

She noticed small things about people that no one else would. She studied quietly in the corner, avoiding everyone and noticing small things that didn't really matter. She noticed that Eric Morrison's left eye was half a shade lighter than the other. She noticed that Alyssa Derek's only ate half of her apple at lunch and took two rolls instead of one. She noticed the spot on the back of Felicity Lawton's neck.

It was right after the blonde had finished tearing into her for the Christmas sweater she had worn, one given to her by her grandmother. Her dead grandmother. The cruel words had left the small girl nearly in tears, standing in the schools bathroom and clutching her book to her chest. The same book that was poking out of the other girls backpack as she left, pony tail swinging and laugh filling the air.

"This is just because you don't feel good about yourself," Jerry called after them quietly, defensively. That was why people were bullies right?

Felicity looked back at her, looking at her as if she were the dirt beneath her hundred dollar pumps. "You think you're so special, don't you? You're _so_ clever, the teachers _love_ you and you don't have to worry about how you look because you don't care," she sneered, "Well listen you fat suck up, no one cares about you, no one likes you, they just pretend to like the little ugly brat you are, so sink right back down to the ground where you belong."

The words stung and so did her eyes as Felicity and her two best friends left, laughing at her expense. It was then that she noticed the discoloration on the back of the girl's neck. Her brows furrowed and her mouth opened to call them back before it shut and she shrunk back into one of the stalls to hide until she had control of herself before going back to class. The spot was probably nothing, Felicity tanned a lot, it was probably just a spot that had a different amount of sun on it.

Two months later Felicity was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma. It had skipped her lymph nodes entirely, and aside from that no one was entirely sure what else there was about it.

Before long the once beautiful locks of long blonde hair were gone entirely and the girl was thin, far too thin, her skin taking on a leathery quality and her eyes sinking in.

Her sight was lost entirely by the time the fourth came to a close.

By the end of the sixth Felicity Lawton, tormentor of the poor, the fat, and the nerdy, had killed herself.

Jerry was one of the three people from school that attended her funeral.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry about how short and somewhat depressing the last chapter was. **

**But yeah, Rin was a bully in her last life. Guess karma dealt her hand in this life huh?**

**As always I don't own anything. **

**Feedback is welcome!**

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><p>Class was about how I imagined it would be. We did reading, writing and arithmetic, as well as history. That part was incredibly brief, probably for good reason but I was also beginning to believe that no one bothered to write it down. Oh certainly we knew the Kage and the villages and when they were formed but dates were spotty and inconsistent.<p>

It annoyed me to no end.

Nothing was concrete and if you wanted to know anything you had to take it from-mouth-information. One reason I was so thankful for being close to the Hokage, I could bother him with endless questions. I didn't, of course. Not endless ones at least. Just some, now and again when I was sitting in his office.

I did that a lot, hiding away from the world. Strange, seeing as I had once been so sociable. It was all strange really. The series that I had reread several times was now my life, the part of my last life that I had tried desperately to hide was now all encompassing this one.

It was a little bit scary.

I couldn't tell anymore if I was Rin or Felicity, or both or neither one. I wished I could have asked someone, anyone about it, but there was no one I could go to. Playing things close to the chest was how I got through my life time. It would have to be how I got through this existence as well.

At the end of the day that's what I did. I went home or to the office as quick as I could once Kunoichi classes let out.

Kunoichi classes were, by far, my favorite part of the day.

They were the only place where everything was absolute and concrete and where I excelled. I already knew how to twist a boy around my finger, so that was easy, and everything else was none variable. This flower means this, these ones are poisonous, this is how you address a person of this stature. All of it made sense. I didn't really have friends there for a few weeks, largely thanks to the fact that nearly everyone avoided me. If I wanted to talk to someone I had to instigate the conversation.

Which is what I did our second week of class.

Little Sakura Haruno was one of the shyest people I had seen in this world, trying to hide her self behind her hair. It was weird that it was her forehead and not her hair that she was being picked on for, considering it was a few shades shy of neon. Also ironic, considering that my hair was more natural of a shade than hers and I got tomatos smashed into my face for it.

"What's wrong with your head?" one girl, Ami asked Sakura one day when I was within hearing distance. I looked up from the snap dragons I had been inspecting, watching Ami and her two followers stand above Sakura in a position all too familiar to me.

Sakura looked up, shrinking into the high collar of her shirt.

"Did you hit it against something?" one of the girls asked in fake concern.

Another laughed, high pitched and loud. "It's so big it probably hits everything!"

I rose slowly to my feet, deciding that that was as good a time as any to begin my planning and alterations. I walked over, interrupting before more insults could be tossed into the girls face.

"You know that's rich coming from someone who got their hair cut from a lawn mower," I commented off handed, propping my hand on my hip and falling into the familiar pattern of confrontation. Normally when I did this I wasn't at the bottom of the food chain though.

It was intimidating.

It was a challenge.

It was exhilarating.

"Like you're one to talk tomato head," Kasumi butted in.

I arched a brow and gave her a royal look, breaking from the child that I supposedly was. "Did you intentionally get that perm or are you so bad at teasing your hair it got stuck? And really, that dress, with your body?" my nose scrunched up delicately.

This was a role I could play.

This was, in fact, the roll I was best at. It was in parts a mask, and it was also, in other parts, myself. I had spent years trying to avoid being bullied, and so did the only thing I could that would guarantee that. I became the bully. And it felt _good_, to watch people bow their heads, shame painting their cheeks. It was a rush to have that kind of power over people, to be at the very top and be able to make or break someone with just a few words. It made me feel important, paramount.

The same way I felt watching the three girls start, looking at each other.

I was, after all, nobody. The village pariah, who all had instructions to stay away from. By all rights I should have been bending to their words and will, lower than dirt and smaller than dust. This was all assuming that I fit into the hierarchy at all. Which, right then, I didn't. I was breaking the rules, hands on my hips and superiority dripping off of my tongue. Physical violence I couldn't handle, having fruit thrown in my face and my hair yanked, I would cry. Verbal abuse was different. That was where I was the queen, where I ruled.

And these amateurs were trying to sit in my throne.

"Who do you think you are?" Ami asked, trying to look superior. My expression, built up of years that she did not have, cut her down and I saw her falter.

"Who do I think I am?" I repeated, "That's one of the least original things I've ever heard anyone ask. Who did you take argument lessons from? Those points are as sharp as a spoon."

"Well at least my hair doesn't look like it has a sunburn!" she tried to defend. I did one thing that few people ever seemed to think of when facing insults.

I laughed.

I watched the confusion cloud the girls face and the three looked at each other. They knew that this wasn't how things were supposed to go. They knew it was wrong of me to be there, acting as their better when I was the least respected person in the village. It wasn't how things worked. It wasn't how things were done.

I didn't particularly care anymore. Once you fall from grace and die everything else looks pretty small in comparison.

Laughter was really the best medicine. If someone is trying to make you feel bad, laugh it off. Better yet, laugh at them. It makes them feel stupid, just like anyone else, and they'll back down real quick if they think that they're about to have the tables turned on them. It worked like a charm.

"Sh-shut up!" Ami shouted. I laughed harder, lips curled in a snarl aimed at her.

"You're just stupid!" Kasumi cried, her face turning as red as my hair.

"Come on guys," the last girl muttered, grabbing their hands and pulling lightly. "Let's get out of here."

I watched them go, remaining in place until they were occupied elsewhere. Only then did I let my shoulders drop and turn back to Sakura, who was staring up at me in surprise. I smiled at her, not the sharp, confident one I wore for the girls. That was the smile of the sun, bright and arrogant. The one I offered Sakura was a small curl of the lips, not enough to dimple my cheeks, dimmer but no less strong. A moonlight smile.

"You alright?" I asked, offering her my hand.

Hesitantly she took it, wiping off her eyes as I pulled her to her feet.

"Y-yeah," she mumbled, riding her cheeks of tears.

"You know," I began, pulling my hand back to my side, "They only make fun of your forehead because they know you're sensitive about it. If you didn't hide it they wouldn't get anything out of picking on you." I spoke from experience. You had to pick targets carefully, or things might backfire.

Sakura ducked her head. "But, it's big."

"Yeah," I agreed, "And? Who cares?"

Sakura shifted from foot to foot. "Doesn't it bother you, when they say your hair is like a tomato?" she asked quietly.

I shook my head and twirled a long strand around my finger.

"Nah. I don't like it when they throw things, but their comparison is wrong. My hair isn't like tomatoes. It's more like strawberries."

Sakura looked at me, confused and not quite understanding but nodding anyway.

"O-okay…"

I bit back a sigh. Lack of confidence this girl had.

"Here, try wearing your hair out of your face tomorrow, see if anyone notices your forehead," I instructed, watching her hesitate before agreeing.

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><p>The next day she did as I asked and no one said a word.<p>

From then on Sakura sat next to me during class.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry this chapter took so long, school started up again and I've been plowed with research papers. This one is gonna be a little short, being only a flashback. I'll get another one out soon to make up for it. **

**Reviews: **

**Wow are there a lot now! **

**Guest from Dec. 27: Not really soon but it is an update! **

**Kimchi759: Thank you for giving so many reviews to my stories, it's really amazing to see all of them and find out what you think. **

**I was trying to be a little more original with this one than some of my others, and aside from a few cliché's I hope that I succeeded. There are only a few mistakes in this one, especially compared to some of my other stuff, as you well know. **

**I had a lot of fun with the confrontation, it's not one I normally get to put out because of the personalities a lot of my characters have. You can expect a few more like that.**

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><p>Kakashi wasn't sure why the Hokage had called him into his office. It wasn't a mission, or the call would have been phrased differently, more formal and less like a teacher to his student, as the case was. The fifteen year old stood in front of the door, waiting patiently for the team of chunin, made of Aoba, Ibiki, Asuma and Kurenai, to leave with their mission scroll.<p>

Only after the door had opened and his former classmates had trooped past him did Kakashi walked in, shutting the door behind him and looking to the desk.

Minato Namikaze sat there, leaning back in the big leather chair of his office. Bright blue eyes caught his and Kakashi almost paused before walking forwards to stand in front of the desk.

"You called for me, sensei?" the young ANBU asked, single visible eye watching his leaders face. There was a twitch going on above the man's lip that Kakashi knew to mean one of two things. He was either about to explode with good news or go out and kill everyone in a ten mile radius.

Considering they were in the village and he couldn't feel any killing intent radiating from his leader and teacher he decided to assume it was the former.

"Kakashi, I'm glad you got here so soon. I have news. About Kushina," the slight tilt of Kakashi's head encouraged him to continue. "You remember how we've been trying to have a child?"

"Yes," Kakashi's chin dipped with his nod. He knew. They'd been trying since the war ended. Minato, he was aware, had always wanted a big family, being an orphan himself, and his wife, who had lost all of her clan, felt the same. With the village at peace they had decided to go on with these desires and attempt to start a family in full. With anywhere between five and a dozen children he had been told. He was pretty sure that those numbers would get lower after the first one was born.

The grin that had clearly been straining at the blonds lips spread out, revealing perfectly straight teeth.

"I'm going to be a father!"

Almost against his will a smile crept across Kakashi's face. "Really? That's great." He knew how much both of them wanted this. He was happy for his teacher. "Do you know how far along she is?"

Minato's head bobbed, happiness practically radiating from the man. "She's about seven weeks along. The whole thing is going to take about ten months instead of nine because of," he gestured to his stomach, miming the Kyuubi, "That."

Kakashi hummed his understanding. "I'm happy for you," he stated. Then, almost slyly, he continued. "Have you thought of any names yet?"

Minato shook his head, paused, and shrugged. "We've talked about it a little bit. We're going to wait until we come up with anything concrete."

"Knowing you they'll probably be named something like Menma," the boy teased, his teachers happiness contagious it seemed, pushing away the sorrow that had been drowning him for the past, oh, ten years.

"Menma? No, I think Naruto would sound better," Minato flapped his hand. Were he anyone else Kakashi might have rolled his eyes. Naruto was the name of the main character in a book that the blond had insisted his entire team read. The Gutsy Ninja, or something similar.

"If it's a girl," Minato started suddenly, "what would you think if we named her Rin?"

The breath was almost knocked out of the ANBU. Of all the things he had been expecting that hadn't been one of them. He swallowed thickly, letting the idea sink in. He thought about it, about Rin. He thought about her smiling face, her kindness and her strength.

She would be a good namesake, Kakashi decided, and maybe he would get another chance to fulfill his promise.

"That would be fine," he told the future-father, finding his voice steadier than he had expected it to be.

"In fact, I like it."

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><p>Rin Uzumaki.<p>

Kakashi had known her since before she was born, even if he had never actually spoken to her.

She was five years old, just a little over three feet tall, and the spitting image of her mother. She had the same light skin, violet eyes and crimson hair. She even had the same hair style, if the pictures Kakashi could remember seeing were any indication.

While he looks were her mother's her personality was much closer to her fathers. She was quiet and observant when not playing with her brother or the pink haired girl, Sakura he thought her name was. Her eyes were sharp, locking onto everything and drinking in information in a way that was scarily similar to Minato's.

Her brother was another case entirely.

Naruto Uzumaki.

Kakashi had known him since before he was born, even if he had never actually spoken to him.

He, like his sister, was five years old, an inch or so higher than the red-head, and almost identical to their father. With wild spikes of blond hair and bright blue eyes the color of the sea it was a wonder no one had put two to two together and gotten the Fourth.

It was probably his personality, Kakashi figured. Naruto was loud and boisterous, drawing as much attention to himself as he could and taking a long time to comprehend what he was told. He never slowed down and never quieted, listening only to his sister and, on very rare occasions, the Uchiha boy he had befriended. It was like fate had stepped up and pushed them together.

The Uzumaki twins were quite the pair, no doubt they would cause trouble. Naruto had already shown a penchant for pranks and Rin had displayed the ability to read people as easily as Kakashi himself might read a book.

The silver haired man, now twenty one as of that day, watched the girl shoo her brother off after Sasuke Uchiha before she herself went off with a group of Kunoichi-to-be, catching step with Sakura. The ANBU waited until they had both disappeared before he himself left, ignoring the cold stone of guilt in the pit of his stomach as he went to see what mission the Hokage had for him. He needed to get out of the village for a while, maybe a few years. It would be easier that way.

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><p>Chakra is bullshit.<p>

This I decided sitting on the ground, trying to get a leaf to stick to my forehead while Sakura already one there and on both cheeks. She didn't look like she was struggling at all! Everything I tried to get it to stick I would end up sending the lead darting up into the air before physics took hold and it spiraled out of grip.

Needless to say I was not happy.

Sakura couldn't seem to understand why I was having so much trouble with using _less_. I had an idea. While most children had the problem of having on a little more chakra than you needed to survive, meaning that they had to drag it out and force it to do what they wanted.

I was the exact opposite, no doubt my brother was as well. For us the energy was straining to get out, fighting to burst from our bodies as even the slightest nudge. Trying to get only just enough to stick a leave to me was like trying to funnel an ocean through a garden hose. It just didn't work.

When the energy was released it came gushing out with a vengeance.

As I said before. Chakra is bullshit.

"You just have to push a little bit out," Sakura tried to explain for perhaps the twelfth time. I was starting to get annoyed. I resisted the urge to snap at the girl, reminding myself that she was still young and didn't understand that things weren't always the same for everything.

Snapping wouldn't do anything helpful, it would just send the girl back into her shell, the one I was trying to coax her out of.

Children were so damn delicate.

"It's not so much pushing some out as keeping enough in," I tried to explain again. "I can't get not enough to make it stick. It keeps flying off."

Similar to what my temper was about to do.

"If you push too much out for one leaf why not use more?"

I stopped my one sided glaring match with the offending piece of foliage, head snapping up to stare at my pink haired friend. More than one leaf? Iruka had advised the class not to try more than one at a time because it could put strain on the still-developing-chakra-system of five year olds. Sakura and I sat far away from the rest of the class, under a tree on the far side of the practice area. From there I could see my brother trying to talk to Iruka while Sasuke hung back, watching them. It seemed that Naruto was having just as hard a time as I was.

Technically Sakura wasn't supposed to have three leaves sticking to her face, but with Iruka preoccupied she had decided to try it out anyways. She was a regular rebel.

"More?" I repeated, "If I did that wouldn't I have to push the chakra out of different places? Wouldn't it do the same thing?"

Sakura paused. I heard her hum, watched the gears start turning in her head. The girl was a genius. I was technically twenty two and I doubted I was as smart as she was. To be fair I'd never cared much about school before. I liked reading, loved it in fact, but that was as far as my academic interest had gone. I was a cheerleader and an A-lister, had had no need for math, science or anything like that past graduating.

To be assured I took my classes and passed them, with B's in maths, C's in most sciences and low A's in social studies and literature. That didn't mean that I remembered what I'd been taught five years later, or that most of what I knew was even applicable.

I was broken out of my musings by Sakura once more.

"What if you put out the minimal amount of chakra you could from one area and spread it out over the rest?" she wondered.

My brows pinched and I gave a very intelligent sounding 'huh?'

"Like with peanut butter. You glob out a bunch of it into one area, and then you spread it out with a knife."

That made a surprising amount of sense.

"Okay, like peanut butter," I muttered quietly, taking the leaf in hand and tilting my head back. I pushed as little chakra out as I could then, focusing on the warm energy, pushed that small amount out and across the skin, keeping as much inside as I could. I placed the leaf there, taking in a deep breath and praying that it worked.

The leaf stuck in place.

I laughed in triumph.


	9. Chapter 9

**Roningirlkisa: I thought it was a nice comparison!**

**Kimchi759: Alright, I'm trying to fix some of this stuff up but after a recent crash my original files are lost and for some reason every other one has stopped existing in my manager. **

**I'm not trying to perpetuate cliché's, I was trying to emphasize that she was more inclined to left brain than right brain and hadn't really cared about anything before. She was (kinda still is) arrogant. So that's what that is. I'm under no delusions that cheerleaders are 'dumb blonds', at my school we had this running joke that the cheerleaders should replace the science Olympiads.**

**ReaperxMars: Thank you, I do my best!**

**RandomCitizen: I don't think I can respond to everything you sent, ah! Drive is important, I assume the Hokage didn't trust people/the council got in the way. The Paprika thing might just be from my old middle school, I'm glad you notice such things! Peanut butter made sense at three in the morning. **

**Mindmaze: Oh my gosh, thank you! Wow, you've given me such a long review and I can see the thought in it, thank you so much! I never actually thought of her being friends with Shikamaru before actually, but now that you mention it…I hope you like everything else!**

**Guest from Jan. 18: What is? **

**Saliere: I have never heard of chigger being used as anything other than 'stay out of the grass or you'll get chiggers!' thank you so much for telling me about that, it never even occurred to me that it might mean something different in different places! I had to specifically look it up with 'racial slur' tacked to the end before google would tell me what it meant. I'll change it as soon as I can.**

**Chapter length is usually somewhere between 500 and 2,000 words so far, I'll see about making a few longer ones. **

**Caullach Tiger Eye: Ah, whoops! My mistake. The numbers aren't overly important, it was just a detail to be added and a part of writing I guess.**

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><p>I am not stupid. Contrary to what my grades will tell you, what my teachers will tell you and what just about anyone else would say I was not stupid. I didn't care about math and science (with the exception of anatomy) was a bore, so I will admit I had a few short comings there. Which is where most people think 'intelligence' really is. My knowledge, what I like and care about, are not what people normally mean when they say someone is smart. History, literature, and people is where my brain lies. I had gotten the highest score of any class when I took Phycology, and no one knew the classics as well as I.<p>

This didn't mean I was horrible at the others. I knew the quadratic equation and how atoms were put together, same as any one.

Now, this being said, there are simply some things that don't make sense to me. Namely, chakra and how to use it. I was lucky that I'd chosen Sakura to be my friend. That girl picked up concepts faster than anyone I'd ever seen. By our third year in the academy she had far surpassed me. Of course by the third year we had begun working through quadratic equations and the makeup of the periodic table.

Why a bunch of murderers-to-be would need to know this I had no idea.

It still seemed to hold no practical application, and before long I just gave up on it. I'd still been in geometry when I'd died the first time around, so around eight I started relying heavily on Sakura to help me out with those things. She didn't really need my help, except for me to be her friend. Why she wanted that to me I had no idea. She could have fallen in with almost anyone else just as easily as me, once her confidence came up.

There were three groups of girls our age.

The ones that ran with Ami, the ones that ran with Ino, and the rest of us. Used to be 'with Felicity', 'with Taylor' or 'the masses'. I miss those days.

By the time our third year rolled around most of the girls had dropped from the system after being told that they didn't make the cut(it wasn't kicking out, just encouraging that they leave) or getting so fed up with failing over and over again that they gave up. This left us with approximately nine girls left. There was Ami, Kasumi, and Haru in one group. They were still bullies, but they left Sakura and I alone after a few more verbal beat downs.

Ino and her group were primarily brought together as what Sakura and I called 'Sasuke's Stalkers', though Ami and hers fell into that category as well. Sakura had been offered to hang out with them by Ino, but had chosen me instead.

Along with Sakura and I Hinata was also counted as 'the rest of us'. She didn't hang out with us and I didn't ask her to. The girl was just too shy, I couldn't picture hanging out with her as being very fun at all.

Instead I mentioned her to my brother one day after school as 'this girl who wants to be friends with you but is too shy'.

The next day he asked her to cut class with him to go to Ichiraku.

Iruka was not pleased when she stumbled out a 'yes'.

Speaking of, Naruto had finally gotten into the reputation he had as a prankster. He brought trouble down on top of him, and on several occasions, me. What my brother did to people for being mean to us and what I did were two very different things.

He did harmless child things, like painting walls or throwing the rotten eggs we were sold, or setting up booby traps that would do more to humiliate than harm.

I slipped into houses and ducked through vents, whispering things when they thought they were alone and pushing objects just a few inches out of place when a room was left. I would do this until my targets inevitably had a mental breakdown or moved.

I don't know what the Hokage thought. He had yet to address that it was us that did these things even though Naruto left our shared name on everything he did.

So far things were going about the way that I figured they would.

It wasn't until Sasuke came to school with a cloud over his head that I remembered what else happened when we (or everyone else as it was) were eight.

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><p>It had started out as a normal day, with Sakura, Naruto and I standing around in the school yard, waiting for either Hinata or Sasuke to show up. They both arrived at roughly the same time normally, about the time when Sasuke passed through the open gates of the Academy yard. He was staring at the ground, what Naruto and I called his 'brooding face' on.<p>

He came over to us without even looking up.

"What's wrong?" it was Sakura who asked while both I and my brother leaned forwards and peered up at Sasuke from under his bangs. He didn't even start, so used to our antics was he.

A sigh tumbled from his mouth. "You guys remember my cousin Shisui?"

Naruto nodded rapidly, a grin forming as fast as could be. "Yeah! He's the one that helped us out with the replacement technique!"

"I remember him. Sakura too. What about it?" there was a bad feeling churning my stomach. Something was wrong. Shisui was someone I'd forgotten about but who? I couldn't place it until-

"He jumped into a river yesterday and drowned."

I almost fell onto my butt. _Shisui, Shishui of the body flicker, Shisui who Danzo stole one eye and Itachi was gifted another, Shisui who could have stopped the massacre, the massacre, after he died, after his death the massacre, Itachi, Sasuke, revenge-_

"Rin!"

My head snapped to the side, finding Sakura with her hand on my arm.

"Are you crying?" Sasuke asked, staring at me wide eyed. I brought a hand up to my cheek, finding that indeed it was wet. I hadn't realized, ever made the connection until then that Shisui, who had taken time out of his life to help a group of four brats learn how to summon logs was the same one who had died for his village and family.

I hadn't made the connection that the kind, warm woman who brought my brother and I over for dinner every Friday was Mikoto Uchiha who would _die_. That the stern man who had taken the time to scold Naruto for _getting caught_ was Fugaku Uchiha who was _killed_. That the teenager who walked us home from school and caught the tomatoes aimed at me was Itachi Uchiha who _murdered_.

They were right in front of my face and until Shisui died I had never actually thought '_they are going to die'._

"I just… liked him. He was nice," I kicked the dirt, "Not a lot of people are."

"Yeah, he was," Sasuke agreed, "There was this thing too, some of my cousins thought that Aniki had something to do with it. He got in a fight with them and Otou-sama and his eyes did something-"

"The sharingan?" Naruto wondered.

Sasuke gave a strange mix between a shake of his head, a shrug of his shoulders and 'Mnhm?', which when translated from Uchiha meant, roughly, 'It looked like it but I don't think that's what it was'.

"Aren't there, like, multiple levels of the sharingan?" I questioned. The others looked at me, startled.

Even Sasuke looked confused.

"What?"

I nodded, more to myself than anyone else. "Yeah, I heard some of your uncles or something talking about it. Like at first there's just one of the spinney dot things-"

"Tomoe," Sasuke corrected.

"Yeah, and then there's two, and the full sharingan is three."

"Aniki already has three, that's not what it was," Sasuke assured me.

"Well, I read somewhere that there's another level…" I admitted, lying only a little. I had, technically, read it, out of sight and knowledge of my peers.

"What?" Sasuke questioned, brow furrowing.

I shrugged. "There were records about some Uchiha who had, er, 'awakened the mango- monga- mangekyo," I stumbled the word out, "I don't know more than that, except it only happened during the big wars."

"The Mangekyo Sharingan?" Sasuke mumbled, frown on his admittedly adorable face.

I kicked at the ground, tilting my face to the sun. "That's what it said. I don't know more than that. Ask your dad maybe?"

The little boy nodded and the bell rang, drawing out little group towards the school building. "Yeah, I'll ask him after school maybe."

Iruka's shout had us kicking up out heels.

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><p>The next day was the weekend, and as per usual Naruto and I were spending it in the Uchiha Complex. Sasuke was showing off the new fire balls he could spit out. Itachi and I stood at end of the docks, he on his way to speak to the Hokage and only there to watch Sasuke impress Naruto, who was bouncing cheerfully behind his best friend, doing a dramatic reenactment of the 'whoosh and then it went it whah!'.<p>

I watched them, smiling softly. I could see the pride in Itachi's eyes and for the first time I understood.

I would have done anything to protect Naruto, he was the most important thing in my life and I would have given it up if it meant he could keep the sun-dimming smile on his face.

Looking at Itachi I knew it was the same for him. Nothing mattered more than his little brother.

They were dead by the end of the week. Naruto, Sakura, Hinata and I took Sasuke from the hospital, and stood at his side at the funeral. When those that hadn't been cremated were put into the ground we all but moved in with him, never letting our friend out of our sight. Even Sakura and Hinata were allowed to stay over most nights with us. Sasuke was never alone, even when he was dark, quiet and closed off we were right next to him.

It was three weeks before the blank, unseeing darkness left his eyes.

We were at breakfast, all of us, about ready to go to school when he spoke for the first time since he had woken up in the hospital.

"I'm going to kill him."

The four of us looked at each other before back at him.

"Just him?" I asked quietly.

Dark eyes found mine, narrowed sharply. "What do you mean?"

"_I mean _he couldn't have been alone."

There was dead silence.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke repeated, his voice harsh and furious.

"Think about it," I murmured, voice low and eyes cast to the table. "The Uchiha was filled with some of the strongest ninja in the village, jonin, ANBU, years ahead of even Itachi. He was a genius but he was still just thirteen. There's just no way he could have taken out an entire clan of highly elite ninja in one night, without any kind of help."

The quiet was tense, deathly and dark.

"You always know things," Sasuke told me, "You knew about the Mangekyo, now you're talking about It-An- _Him_, having partners. Why?"

He sounded almost accusatory. Given that his entire world was just thrown upside down and the person he'd trusted most had betrayed him in the worst way possible. It would be no surprise that he would be wary about us, aspecially me. I was never the most typical child. I watched too much, I twisted people too often.

"I'm quiet, people don't notice me unless I want them too. I hear things, sometimes, and I put them together. This one was basic reasoning. I know a lot, from deduction and what I hear."

Sasuke stared at me, along with all the others.

"She's right," Sakura mumbled, "It makes sense. No one person could do that, they would have to be as strong as the Hokage. Itachi," Sasuke flinched, "was strong but he wasn't that strong."

Hinata's voice was less timid than it had been before she's started hanging out with Naruto. "Your r-revenge might not be only on him."

Sasuke bridged his fingers, propped his chin on them and fell silent, thinking.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10!**

**I own nothing.**

**Reviews; **

**RainaTheReader: At first when I was writing this I wasn't too sure about Rin's character, but the more I did the more into it I got. It's not often that I do make darker characters, most of my other stories have the typical 'morally sound and always in the right~' kind, so it's a lot of fun doing Rin. You can't see it right now, but there are going to be changes in both siblings thanks to the presence of the other.**

**SynesTheoretical: I thought that the reference would be appropriate, thank you for noticing! I'm not really sure 'recovered' is the right word for it considering she's still twisting people around her little finger but she's definitely getting a better understanding of what she did to people. As for the whole Sasuke thing I just thought about how dead set he was on revenge and how saying he shouldn't and/or couldn't would wound his fragile Uchiha pride. And we couldn't have that.**

**Lykae101Sky: Rin is definitely on the darker side of things. For now it's still relatively cheery, as in no one had been seen murdered just yet. If she does go into ANBU it won't be for quite a while, as she is still a child and not a genius in the art of murder.**

**Vaughn Tyler: Thank you again.**

**Akatsuki Yume: I hope this is soon enough!**

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><p>I was eight when I decided it was long past time I did something very stupid.<p>

Well, let me rephrase that.

I was eight, going through my memories and putting the new ones in order when I remembered something very important.

I was a jinchuriki.

Not that I ever forgot, as if I could with all the bullshit of the village around me. I just happened to remember that, even with the amount of control I had over my own mind I had yet to even make an acquaintance with the fox sitting in my stomach.

So, whilst sorting a memory into 'never think of again' I stopped, pushed the folder I'd put it in away and closed my eyes. I took a deep breath, though I'm sure that it was more for confidence than necessity, and started a mental chant.

_Kurama. Kyubi. _

The perfectly white world faded away, as did the stacked up organization of memories. I could feel the nothingness drain away and get replaced by cold, wet and stale air.

When again I opened my eye there before me stood a wall of giant bars, and through the gaps in that thick iron a pair of glowing red eyes peered out at me. Very sharp, very deadly teeth flashed in the scant light.

"**What's this?" **his voice was a growl, rumbling the area around us with power put into it.

I was 89% sure it was an intimidation tactic.

"'This'" I put finger quotations around the world, "Is Rin. I don't think we've had the pleasure of a proper introduction," I drawled, pretending to inspect my nails.

I may or may not have also been trying to keep my hands from shaking.

In excitement or fear I don't know.

"**You should show more respect, brat. I am the Kyubi." **

I pretended to gasp, putting my hand over my mouth and widening my eyes comically.

"Oh, say it ain't so! Not the Kyubi!'

Kurama glowered at me and I shrugged, ducking me head.

"Alright, so no sassing the fox. Got it. So, Mr. Kyubi, what's your name?" I questioned, rocking back on my heels. Water sloshed around my ankles and I grimaced. "Also, can I make it, I dunno, not a sewer in here?"

_Play nice for the fox, see where that gets me. _

"**I am the kyubi**," he repeated, then, after a moment, "**Yes**."

"'Kyubi' is a title, not a name. What's your name? And how?"

"**Why should I answer anything for you, human**?" he glared down at me and I sighed deeply.

"Because I'm stuck with you until Tobi comes back or I die. Hopefully neither one of those things is going to happen any time soon but I would rather our relationship be at least somewhat friendly. So," I crossed my arms over my chest, looking up at the great fox, "How about we cut the shit and be honest with each other? That sound good, Kurama?"

There was silence and I could only watch as the fox rose to his feet and approached, hunched in the small space of the case. He walked forwards enough the his muzzle could have toughed the bars of he moved it, crimson eye locked on me.

"**What do you know**?"

I bit back a grin. "Ah, ah. Equivalent exchange demands information for information. So, you tell me how to get us into more sanitary environments and I'll tell you all the nasty little tid bits I've got locked up in my head. Sound like a plan?"

The demon growled low but the fear had drained out of me. He was on one side of the cage and I was on the other. I was in control here. And whatever he said about humans Kurama was still a person, and people- oh, people I could twist however I wanted.

"**Focus,"** Came the growl, "**This place is an extension of your mind. In theory you can control it if you wish to." **

_So like the rest of my brain_?

I looked around the place, picturing the never ending darkness be brought to rein with cream colored walls. Nothing happened, not truly, the walls rippled and acted like they would form before a headache of epic proportions formed and it vanished.

I glowered at where it had once been, rubbing my temple with the heel of my hand. I ignored the laughter of the fox, taking in a breath and straightening out as I turned to face him.

"Okay Kurama, here's what's what with yours truly…"

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><p>When Rin Uzumaki walked into his office that day the Hokage knew something was wrong. She didn't have the normal book she carried in with her, nor was she as quiet as she usually was. Violet eyes were locked onto him and a sense of dread settled into the pit of the old ninja's stomach. The last time he had seen that look it had been when Minato had confronted him about Danzo almost ten years before.<p>

"Rin," he greeted, "Is something wrong?"

The girl kept walking until she was standing right in front of him, making him swivel in his chair to keep facing her.

"The Forth Hokage is my dad."

It was said with the same certainty as one might tell you that the sky was blue.

Ignoring the increasingly bad feeling he got Sarutobi watched her, giving nothing away.

"What makes you say that?"

She gave him a look that said that that was a foolish question. "Naruto looks just like him, and according to, well, everyone, he was supposed to be going out with a woman named Kushina _Uzumaki_, who had _red_ _hair _and_ purple eyes_," her hand rose to her cheek, rubbing against the highest whisker mark on the left, "Sound familiar?"

Instead of answering her question he asked another. "What else do you know?"

Rin paused, as if thinking of what she should tell him. "I'm a jinchuriki. It's not that hard to figure out, what with the never ending whispering of 'the fox brats' or 'the demon twins'. October 10th, that is my birthday and the day that the fox attacked. Traditionally it has been members of a Kage's own family that become the jinchuriki, so as to keep loyalty going and what not," the girl paused, her head tilting to the side, "Am I wrong yet?"

She wasn't, and her logic was flawless.

Truly, this was Minato's daughter.

"Have you told your brother?" he wanted to know. To his relief she shook her head.

"No, Naruto is… he's a loud mouth. Sasuke and I keep him reigned in as much as we can, but the fact of the matter is that there's a good chance he might blurt it out at a bad time. And if that happened, and someone from another village heard… Our parents were good ninja. They made a lot of enemies, and we're still too young to protect ourselves from civilians, let alone full fledged ninja holding grudges."

The Hokage held back a wince at the mention of the civilians. Instead he asked another question, something he did often. "If you knew all of this, why tell me? What do you want?" for it was clear she had come to ask for something. She never talked this often unless she was convincing someone of something or leading up to a request.

Her expression turned from confident and assured to something sheepish. She had been caught.

"Ah, well, I wanted to try my hand at sealing, ya know?" her cheeks turned a light pink at the slip at the end. She had been trying to break the tick for years, the Hokage knew.

Hiruzen wasn't as surprised as he felt he should be. So she wanted to try sealing, something that both of her parents had been masters in? Slowly the Hokage nodded, his mind twisting with new information.

"Alright," when Rin's face lit up he held a hand up to stop her from believing it would be that simple. "I will give you references on sealing, _if_, you get an A on your next test."

Rin cringed and Sarutobi almost sighed. She and her brother were both alike in that they cared little for academia, though he had a feeling it was more irritation than inability to comprehend in Rin's case. She was smart, a blind man could see that.

"I'll… I'll try," she promised, her nervous action returning.

The Hokage watched her turn around, give him a small thank you and rush out the door.

The next week Rin returned to the office, presenting him with a shaky 91.5. He received her with a smile and handed over a book of the basics of sealing. Her smile, for once, matched that of her younger brother in voltage.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11! I own nothing. **

**Reviews; **

**Marie: Please elaborate if you're going to say it's sue like, I'd like to know what in particular makes it that way so I can hopefully improve!**

**Vaughn Tyler: Thank you!**

**RainaTheReader: You're very welcome! I know about the grammer, I try to fix things when I can and I should be getting a beta soon so that will help! I feel like Kurama would be somewhat amused by her, and that they would get a working partnership going on for mutual benefits. I.e. she doesn't take his chakra without his say so and he doesn't try to take her over when she does need his help. Plus, neither of them want Madara back. **

**Guest from Jan. 29: Thank you! I hope you like this to.**

**Guest from Jan. 31: Thanks!**

**Oluhasuu: Thank you for all your kind words. When she hit her head she was in a coma, but only for a few weeks. That ANBU (Genma by the way) was in deep shit. As for her being a savior, well, she's the protagonist!**

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><p>I am not a nice person. I do not forgive, and I <em>never<em> forget. I could not tell Sasuke that revenge was a bad idea because that would be a lie. I didn't want him to want his brother, who had always been nice to me, dead. But I would be a hypocrite if I told him not to.

Largely because I was already the cause of someone's death.

It hadn't been intentional, not really. I didn't stab him, or strangle him, or unleash a can of fox flavored whoop-ass(shut up, I'm still cool).

Instead, I got him to hang himself.

It wasn't actually that hard.

I just did to him what I did to most of my victims. Only with him I was more relentless. The reasoning for this?

He hit my brother.

So I followed him, for months, always at the edge of his vision, watching. I was in his house, outside his work place, only a few yard behind him when he went shopping. It didn't take him a week to start sweating, looking around in paranoia and driving off all others who might have helped him with his crazy ravings about demon ghosts.

When he came home his furniture would be exactly one inch to the right of where he had left it, there would be a few cans less in the cupboards and a little less milk in the carton.

In two months he lost his mind and put a belt around his neck.

Thinking about the red mark he left on Naruto's cheek I can't say that I regret it.

Only that it took so long for him to stop twitching.

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><p>I was getting soft.<p>

How did I know this?

Why, because I've actually begun to care about Sakura, Hinata and Sasuke. For years the only person I gave a damn about was Naruto. He was the light in the dark loneliness of our lives, the only one I truly loved. This was largely because I had already grown attached before I remembered Felicity.

Now that was beginning to change. I was starting to grow fond of the children. They still annoyed me sometimes, they were immature, or shy, or spoke without thinking and said something stupid. That hadn't changed. The only thing that changed was me and my capacity for caring.

Strangely enough it was much higher in a life that would be filled with death than the one I lead where there wasn't so much as an OD in my graduating class.

It was a worrying thing, considering what the future held. If I played my cards right though it might turn out all right.

_Might_.

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><p>The best idea I ever had was learning sealing. It was hard, but it was <em>fun<em>. Everything made sense. It was like writing or talking, there were rules to follow but the structure was malleable and it could be manipulated to do whatever you wanted, within reason. It was bound only by physics, chakra, and imagination. And the first one could be warped! If you were really good. I wasn't yet. For the time being I stuck with sealing our apartment up the wazoo. No one was getting in without my say so.

That was how Naruto found me a few days before our ninth birthday, putting the final touches on something that would reinforce the glass of the window. Most of what I could do was theory instead of practical. That would change, but it would take time. It was learning a new language. It didn't happen all at once.

"Nee-chan," he dropped onto my shoulders. I didn't move. I'd heard him coming.

"Ah, Otouto?" one more line…

"How come you're not nice to everyone?" he questioned.

I shrugged. "If they're nice to me I'll be nice to them. If not… sucks to suck."

"Oooh," Naruto nodded sagely, looking over my shoulder. "Is that that weird squiggly stuff?"

"Sealing," I corrected, "And yeah." I paused. "Do you wanna learn with me?"

Naruto perked up. "Can I?"

I nodded, smiling down at my brother.

"Of course."

* * *

><p>I am strong, and I am weak. I can take as much verbal abuse as anyone can throw and give back two fold what I am given. I am not afraid of standing up in front of people and making a speech, for all I don't like being the center of attention anymore. I am not afraid of what people think of me.<p>

That being said, I am still a coward.

I run from fights of the physical variety, I flee from people who would try to punch me instead of hitting back. I get as far away from tomato hurling older kids as I possibly can. Their aim is usually very good though, so most of the time I still end up sticky and gross.

As time passed my hatred for the Village Hidden in the Leaves only grew. If it weren't for my friends I would have been long gone.

Since they were there, though, I would stay.

Because above all else I feared being alone.

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><p>"This isn't going to work. I'll only end up killing it."<p>

"You don't know that."

"Yes I do. You'll be good at this, I'll end up doing more harm than healing."

"Come on, just try?"

There were times when I regretted teaching my little friend how to stand up for herself. As soon as she'd gained some confidence it had begun to soar. She no longer listened to everything I said, taking suggestions for the most part but making her own arguments as well.

Which brought us to the metal table in the basement of Konoha General Hospital. There was a small team of medics circling the room, looking at me every now and then. It had been my idea to begin with, not for me to go in but for Sakura to get an early start. Her chakra control was near perfect already, it would be a shame to waste it.

Mine, on the other hand, was not. It wasn't as horrific as it had been, but the delicate things were still difficult for me to grasp. I was getting better, through lots of training, make no mistake. I still didn't think I could use it to heal though. I was pretty sure that, what with demon chakra mingling in my coils, I would end up melting anything I tried to fix.

So, staring down at the fish flopping on the scroll, I was a little nervous. Sakura had already passed the fish test with flying colors. I did not think that I would. Which I was trying to explain to her, only she wouldn't listen.

It might have helped if she knew that my energy was naturally volatile.

Alas, she didn't, and so kept pestering me to try until I at last gave in, placing my hands over the fish and pushing chakra through my palms and into the poor thing.

Blue glowed under my hands, enveloping the creature.


	12. Chapter 12

**I own Rin.**

**VaughnTyler: Thank you.**

**RainaTheReader: Team assignments are something I've been thinking really hard about actually, so I hope you like the ones that I've decided one. I'm going to need help coming up with missions though so… As for Naruto, eh, he has an inkling. Sorry for the length, I just like getting things out instead of having super long chapters. **

**Guest from Feb. 6: She can't die she's important!**

**Guest from Feb. 9: Ask and you shall receive.**

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><p>The man sat in one of the many trees that lived in the graveyard, masking his presence with practiced skill. It was dangerous to be in the village, but sometimes he had to come back, so see people, the dead and the living. When a shock of white hair appeared on the path it seemed that he would be seeing both that day, if only one knew he was there.<p>

The sun was setting, casting long shadows along the orange painted ground, wind blew ruffling pale strands that marked the teenager as Hatake. Kakashi would be about sixteen now, two years younger than his observer.

A dark eye watched him stop in front of the grave, glove covered fingers reaching out to trace the name of the lost girl.

"Hey." His voice did not carry, it was only through sheer ninja skill that the masked watch man was able to hear what was said. "I haven't visited you in a while, Rin. Sorry. I didn't forget about you, promise."

_No. _The other thought bitterly, _You just killed her._

"Things are starting to look up, finally. Did you know sensei is going to be a father?"

This was news. The man perked up.

"Kushina is pregnant, and you know what else? If it's a girl they're going to name her after you!"

Behind a mask an eye grew wide. This information was invaluable, offering him a golden opportunity in the near future. The seal would be weak while the woman was in labor, and the owner of it would be virtually defenseless when it was going on as well.

A baby, a new Namikaze. Rin Namikaze.

His bitter heart squeezed. A good name sake. One that would surely result in a kind, strong girl.

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><p>Eleven years, almost twelve, had passed since he had bothered to step foot in the village of leaves. It just didn't seem important. However with only a year before the graduation of his teacher's children he wanted to see what was going on personally. Zetsu kept him updated, so he wasn't without any information. 'The boy painted over the library', 'the girl killed someone', 'the boy tried to help an injured bird', 'the girl blew up a fish'.<p>

So far it seemed the elder of the Uzumaki was more suited to shinobi life, if one ignored her penchant of running from conflict.

She was not like his Rin. She could not preform medical ninjutsu, though she should have been able to. She was not kind, or brave, or emotionally strong. In some ways Obito hated her for it. In others it made it easier for him, knowing that she was so different.

In part it was his fault, he would admit. The status of a jinchuriki was a difficult cross to bear, one that many cold or filled with hate. His Rin would have never been like that. She did not hate, she loved and was kind.

Completely unlike this one.

That was what he thought when he arrive at the gate of the Academy building, genjutsu in place too strong for anyone without a sharingan of their own to see through. Since he had Danzo in his back pocket and Kakashi didn't want around with it unveiled all the time he would say that he was safe from the only other two men in the village who possessed the trait. Even the third one in the world that had unlocked his eyes worked for him.

The man waited across the street, unnoticed by anyone, for the school to let out. When it did he got his first good look at the Uzumaki Twins since he had spirited them away upon their birth. When he saw them it was like getting punched in the stomach by the ghost of Christmas past.

How more people did not know their lineage he hadn't the faintest idea. It should have been clear to anyone with eyes who their parents were. They were identical. The boy took after his father, blond hair spiking wildly and blue eyes bright with life. His smile was all his mothers, as was his fashion sense. Orange. Too much orange to be healthy. It actually hurt to look at.

In contrast the girl was miniature of her mother, violet eyes and crimson hair, even the same crooked smile and threat of attack when his little cousin (fourth, once removed) said something she apparently disagreed with. After that disappeared she was replaced with Minato, cunning eyes scanning her companions and the around them.

There were only two physical difference he could see; hair and cheeks. Both children were marked on each cheek with three diagonal lines, and both kept their hair noticeably shorter than their parents, Rin's falling just past her shoulder. Like the real Rin.

He shook his head quickly, banishing the musings. It came back a minute later when Rin fell back behind her group a few steps, her eyes on them. They softened, as did her smile, before she was called back to join them.

That was Rin.

Obito hated her.

* * *

><p>It was finally over. We were out. Through hard work, determination and an unhealthy amount of cheating we passed, without my brother having to take any sort of 'remedial lesson'. I didn't let Mizuki anywhere near him. I would have put a knife in his eye before I let him touch my brother.<p>

After everything was over Naruto and I went to see the Hokage, to show off our new headband while Sakura wet to her parents for celebration dinner and Sasuke took his to the Uchiha Graveyard. My brother and I trooped up the winding steps of the tower, ducking past various desk ninja.

My brother was nearly buzzing with excitement, his green goggles replaced by a metal plate. He didn't even knock before opening the door to the Hokage's office, giving a call of 'jiji!'. Unfortunately our caretaker was not the only one in the room that would fit the description.

Turning towards us as the door swung open was the entire Counsel of Elders, two old men and one old woman. I tensed, stepping closer to my brother. I did not like how Danzo especially was eyeing us. It made my skin creep and my stomach twist.

That was probably Felicity more than Rin. Her memories and a life time of weariness of older, shady men that was not ingrained into the mind of people in this world. They were more concerned with neighboring countries than neighbors, oddly enough, especially when many of those neighbors were murderers.

"We'll talk later," Koharu announced, talking the first step towards us. I pulled Naruto out of the way, watching Homura and Danzo follow her, their eyes lingering on us. The door shut soundly. There was a beat of silence before the tension was shattered by my brother spinning around, his smile dimming the sun.

"We passed!"

* * *

><p>Hours found Naruto asleep on the couch and me sitting on the Hokage's desk, looking over the files he had spread out as he selected teams for tomorrow. Teams were one things I was anxious about. I had little control over them, only educated guesses and hope for the future. I was good at dealing with anxiety, so to anyone else I would have seemed the normal level of worried, not the level that might put someone into a panic attack if they thought too long.<p>

I'm sure you can guess what the truth was.

"What do you think, Rin?"

My head snapped up from where I was skimming Kurenai's file, a soft 'huh?' falling out of my mouth.

Hiruzen was watching me, eyes shining in amusement. "About teams. What do you think?"

Oh. Well, I hadn't thought. Not really. I had accepted that it was out of my hands with grace and dignity, refusing to pitch a fit and beg. If he was asking me though… I starting thinking quickly of my answer, turning to the rest of the papers.

"What I think… I only know my classmates, so I can't say a whole lot about the others," I warned. When I wasn't interrupted I went on. "Ino-Shika-Cho is a tried and true formation, and Shikamaru and Choji are inseparable, so they should be one team, Ino will kick them into doing work too. Probably under someone more relaxed than strict, but still skilled. The rest… Shino is long range with his bugs, 'Nata is close range with good sensor ability so if they were together they could balance each other out, and add someone else in there who could do heavy hitting jutsu, like Kiba. And Akamaru." Adorable dog.

"And your brother?"

I paused.

"He should stay with Sasuke. They're good friends, and even better rivals. They work best off of each other, improving because there's a challenge and a need to win and prove themselves better. It's actually kind of stupid. For a third member of their teams… Sakura, I think."

The Hokage tilted his head, humming curiously. "Not you?"

I looked up at him seriously. "I would kill to be able to stay with my brother. But I'm not stupid. Only a fool would put two jinchuriki of the same bijuu on the same team," I told him honestly, "So I assume that we'll be separated. Aside from me Sakura is the only person I trust to pull Sasuke and Naruto out of a fight without taking one person's side and still be successful. She's already training to be a medic, she would thrive with those two pushing her, I'm sure."

The Hokage was watching me carefully. "And what about you?"

What about me? I wasn't particularly good taijutsu, or projectile weapons, mostly because no one would actually teach me anything. Only Sasuke and Hinata were willing to help me improve, and they were still learning themselves so it wasn't very effective. My chakra control had gotten better, steadily building up in efficiency until I could do the more delicate exercises with an awful amount of trouble. Really, I think I would be best suited to chakra intensive things, like nin- or genjutsu, the former more than the latter. Still my real skills lay in traps, manipulation and seals.

In response to the Hokage's question I shrugged.

"I don't know. It's up to you, but there should be someone on both mine and Naruto's team that can put the fox down if we screw up. Aside from that…" I shrugged again. I didn't know.

I really didn't.

* * *

><p>"Team Seven; Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha!"<p>

"Team Eight; Hinata Hyuuga, Shino Aburame, and Rin Uzumaki!"

"…what?"


	13. Chapter 13

**Niinjagirl2211: Yeah, poor guy. I like Kiba, but I needed Hinata and Shino so… yeah.**

**Lightsbane1905: Oh, it would hurt them for sure. It would hurt Rin to, just like Naruto's does. I'm not really sure why that's an issue though, their teacher will handle keeping her under control. Kurama will live, he'll have to. **

**HjLostDream: You're absolutely right. I actually think the same thing, these teachers are sort of idiots, but you have to make due with what you have. I promise that I, and Rin, have thought things out more than just 'keep things sorta the same it'll be easier and everything will all work out anyway.' So don't worry too much!**

**VaughnTyler: Thank you!**

**Akatsuki Yume: Ask and you shall receive.**

* * *

><p>The first time he met them he was brand new, small, pink, and squishy. He didn't know it at the time, being preoccupied with being a baby and all, that the pair of children on the other side of the class would grow to be his best friends.<p>

Their first meeting was tumultuous, with Rin tackling him, and then chasing him, while his mother did nothing to help. It hardly mattered that there was a bruise forming on his shoulder by the time they were done with what had dissolved into a game of tag. He had people to sit by in the classroom.

For the first time ever he had friends.

* * *

><p>Mikoto had known the pair since before they were even born, had looked through catalogs for cribs for them and her Sasuke, had helped pick out their first outfits and accompanied their mother on every doctor's visit.<p>

She was the only one to visit them in the hospital. Not even Kakashi, who should have been there, appeared. She took to the council her right as godmother to take the two home with her, only to be met with the firm denial that no clan was allowed to take them in. Not even the only one that could control what was inside of them should the worse come.

It took three different ANBU to finally get her out of the room, fury turning her eyes to crimson and horror painting her features when she realized what that meant.

Jaraiya wasn't in the village. Kakashi was a wreck. She was forcibly removed from them.

They would grow up without a single hint of care.

five years later a little ginger flew headlong into her son.

Her laughter was near hysterical.

Fate seemed to have a sense of humor.

* * *

><p>Fugaku had never cared much either way for the jinchuriki twins. He had known and respected their parents, even been set up with one of them as a joke from their (future) wives. So he was completely neutral towards them. He made sure that the rest of his family held the same reservation of judgement in the matter of the Uzumaki as well, lest his wife get a hold of them.<p>

So when his son dragged the pair into his home a week after his first day of school the man could honestly say he did not mind. The logical part of his brain was thinking of how useful it would be to have such powerful children loyal to his son. The father part was happy that his younger would actually have friends.

The trouble came when the tricks started warranting police involvement, which meant his clan, which meant no playing favorites or the councils, civilian, shinobi and elder, would start riding him for it.

So he sat the two down in a cell they had landed in and had a talk. Really, if they were going to be good ninja, they couldn't keep getting caught.

That was the first time he saw the girl smile genuinely, and the first time the boys grin was directed right at him. The combined light threatened to blind him.

* * *

><p>When his mother told him to walk the children home he thought little of it. Itachi was eleven to their six, and a chunin already. He thought it would just be the normal precaution. Until someone started approaching. A man older than he was by about ten years, pushing quickly towards the trio. The children pushed closer to his sides, Rin having been walking on the other side of Naruto and pushing him closer, putting herself between him and man.<p>

His confusion only lasted until the hate filled words were spat at the cowering children. In a sudden flare of instincts that any sibling might have Itachi had dropped the man in a genjutsu.

The twins had stared up at him in shock. The young Uchiha took both of their hands and led them away from the writhing man.

* * *

><p>The day Shisui met the children his mother seemed to insist on calling demons in spite of his father's objections had started normally.<p>

He had been out training in one of the clan fields, striking a practice dummy when a group of children trooped into the area. He recognized his favorite cousin immediately. The others took him a second. Weariness touched his chest, remembering his mother's words.

Sasuke came running at him, the blond sprinting after him and the red head following at a slower pace. "Shisui!" he called, attempting a tackle. The favorite older cousin side stepped, catching the back of his shirt. He wasn't counting on the other two diving at his legs to make him let go of their friend. The end result was the ninja hitting the ground, sitting on the blonds head while his sister called him names six year olds should not know.

_Well_, he thought, looking around at the children,_ this isn't how I thought today would go._

* * *

><p>Mikoto wasn't always all for the coup. She was a jonin, she cared for the village, fought a war for it and worked hard to reach high ranks. There were good people in there, she knew. Kind people who would never hurt a soul.<p>

Unless, she found, that soul was one of her godchildren.

The day that she caught Rin up in her arms, tomatoes squishing to stain them boy and tears running down red cheeks, was the day she really got behind things.

When she marched into the meeting that night and demanded that the jinchuriki be spared no one dared contradict her words.

She was considered one of the clans strongest for a reason, after all.

* * *

><p>When they were children Sakura had never been particularly close to Ino, so the anger she desplayed at her being on Team 7 went mostly ignored. Which wasn't to say she didn't know the girl. Naruto had known Shikamaru and Choji, and by extension so did Sakura and Rin. They would not remember it for years and years to come, but there was one time where rivalries, alienation and irritation vanished.<p>

All because of a little boy they found in the woods.

Well, that Choji found in the woods.

At first they hadn't been aware of his presence, until Rin had pointed out to Naruto that Ino and Shikamaru were lifting food from other peoples lunches, something she had seen her friend and her brother do more than once when they forgot their lunch. Curious, the group followed Ino, Hinata leading the way with the eyes that everyone had dubbed as 'super cool'. Even Sasuke agreed they were pretty good. Not as good as his brothers, but...

The trees had parted to reveal, of all things, a snow bank. Upon which were gathered Ino, Shikamaru and Choji, laughing and kicking snow at a boy that Sakura had never seen before in her life.

When the group caught sight of them Ino screamed.

* * *

><p>I sat in the room between Hinata and Shino, leaving my brother to celebrate with his team. They expressed their sadness that I was being left out, but I waved it off, draping an arm across Hinata's shoulders and assuring them that I would be fine with the blushing girl.<p>

She didn't stutter as badly as she had originally, partially because of the four of us that pushed her to be clear and confident. Sakura especially was a help.

We were sitting together for about twenty minutes when the door opened and a very masculine voice called in.

"Team Eight?"

We turned to the door, confusion clear on my face. Wasn't this team leader supposed to be Kurenai?

_So why,_ I wondered_, is Yamato standing in the doorway?_

* * *

><p>Tenzo looked in the room, his eyes landing on his latest assignment. He hadn't volunteered for this one. He wasn't a teacher, he was an ANBU. The Hokage assured him, however, that it was very important that he be the teacher for the female jinchuriki. Kakashi was to be the one for her brother, putting both children with someone who could control the demon if something happened that no one wanted to.<p>

So here he was, collecting three genin who were only nine years younger than him.

The three rose quietly, not a one saying a word, creepily enough. Weren't kids supposed to be loud? The trio in the back was.

"Right," he cleared his throat awkwardly, "My name is Tenzo. I'll be your teacher from now on. If you'll follow me?"

The girls looked at each other before the boy took the lead, walking forwards to do as ordered. When the girl followed his lead Tenzo almost sighed in relief, turning down the hall.

This was not what he'd signed up for.


End file.
